Lacing.



No. 765,226. P'ATBNTED JULY 19, 1904. H. H. CUMMINGS.

LAGING.

APPLICATION mun SEPT. 10. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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[IMLM A wr UNITED STATES Patented July 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR' TO BOSTON SPIRALTAGGING COMPANY, OF HINGHAM, MASSACHU- SETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE,AND FREDERICK L. EMERY, TRUSTEE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

' LACING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,226, dated July 19,1904.

Application filed September 10, 1902- Sarial No. 122,787- NO m de -l Toall whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY H. CUMMINGS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Malden, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts'have invented an Improvement in Lacings, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to lacings, and particularly to means forstiffening the end or ends thereof.

Prior to my invention lacings have commonly been stiifened by the use oftubular metal stiffeners covering the end portions of the lacing andcompressed thereupon. They have also been provided with coiled-wirestiffeners attached directly to the ends of the lacing, and they havealso been stiffened by the use of a tubular slitted metal stiffenerabout which the material of the lacing has been wrapped, the edges ofthe material having been clamped by inserting the same in the slit andclosing the latter upon and to clamp said material. This latterconstruction produces a covered stiffener that is, one wherein the metalis within and covered by the textile or other material of the lacingitself.

My invention in its preferred form relates to a covered stiffener of thegeneral type last above mentioned. Stiifeners of this type,

wherein the closing together of the slit is alone relied upon to hold byclamping the edges of the covering or lacing material, are open to theobjection that should the stiffening-tube become distorted or its slitopened even slightly it tends to release its hold upon the coveringmaterial, permitting the latter to loosen. To obviate this. my inventioncomprehends securing or interlocking the edges of the stiffening memberto the fabric in such a manner that when turned into'tubular form itshold upon the fabric will not subsequently be destroyed upon destructionof its shape.

The above, with other features of my invention, will be bestunderstoodfrom a description in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 illustrate, respectively, in top orplan view and in end view a lacing to which the stiffening member hasbeen attached, these views showing the lacing and stiflening memberbefore formation thereof into general cylindrical shape; Fig. 3, a viewsimilar to Fig. 2, showing the members shaped in cylindrical form; Figs.4 and 5, views similar to Figs. 1 and 2 and illustrating a differentmode of applying the stifiener; Figs. 6 and 7, views similar to 4 and5,-illustrating yet another mode of attaching the stiffening member;Fig. 8, a view similar to Fig. 7, showing the members shaped intocylindrical form; Figs. 9 and 10, views illustrating the use of thestiffener, Fig. 1, in'connection with a flat lacing instead of a tubularlacing, as in the preceding figures. Fig. 11 is a general view showingin side elevation the end of the stiffened lacing in form ready for use;Fig. 12, a detail showing the stiffening member, Figs. 1 and-2 and 4Eand 5, before applied to the lacing; and Figs. 13 and 14, detailsillustrating the manner of treating the end of the lacing to which thestiffener is applied, these views being on a smaller scale.

Referring to the drawings, first to Figs.

1 to 3, inclusive, and 11 and 12, the lacing a may be of any suitable ordesired formation or structure, usually, however, of tubular woven orbraided fabric. It is severed in the required lengths, preferably by abias cut to leave a pointed end, as at a, Fig. 13,

which may be folded back into the correspondingly-recessed portion aformed by the cut, thereby to produce a lacing end which will notunravel. When folded back upon itself, the lacing end will appear as inFig. 14.

The stiffener proper, b, in blank is shown in Fig. 12, the same as thereshown being provided at its edges with a plurality of serrations orlooking projections b. This stiffener may be laid upon the flattenedlacing end, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with the lacing-point a foldedback beneath it or over, as may be desired, preferably beneath it, andthe edges of the flattened lacing are turned upward and impaled upon thepoints 6, which latter are then clenched inward, as shown in Figs. 1 and2, thereby looking or interlocking the edges of the stiffener and lacingsecurely one to the other and beyond the peradventure of escape underreasonable conditions of usage. Having in this manner effectuallyattached or locked the edges of the stiffener to the lacing, thestiffener and lacing together are then preferably rolled into generalcylindrical form, as shown in Figs. 3 and 11, thereby turning theoverturned or clenched locking-points b inward out of sight and accessand giving to the lacing end the appearance of a smooth-coveredstiffened end, at which the fabric alone appears. Preferably theadjacent edges of the covered end where they are brought one oppositethe other in forming the cylindrical end referred to are left separatedone from the other slightly, as indicated at M, Fig. 3, to givcto theend a certain elasticity, which it would not possess were the two edgesbrought directly into contact one with the other. This tends to preventdistortion of the end under comparatively slight blows or pressure,which were there no give or yield to the end would necessarily produce adistortion thereof, and however much the covered cylindrical end may bedistorted it is practically impossible to loosen the locking engagementbetween the stiffener and the lacing.

In Figs. 4 and 5 the points 6 are turned under, and thereby projectedinto and through the edges of the lacing, instead of first impalingthereupon and afterward clenching the points upward and inward, as inFigs. 1 and 2. In the construction Figs. 4 and 5 the overturned pointswill be wholly concealed when the end is shaped into cylindrical form.-

In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 I have shown the stiffening member 6 secured to theedges of the lacing by clenching the smooth edge of the stiffeningmember upon the edges of the lacing member without the use of anypositive looking points or projections, as in constructions previouslydescribed. This construction, Figs. 6 and 7 however, resembles the saidprior constructions described in that the attachment of the stiffeningmember to the lacing end is Wholly independent of the formation of thesame into general cylindrical shape and independent of the degree towhich the slit is closed between the opposite edges of the lacing whenbrought together in cylindrical formation.

I do not claim in this application the arillustrated in Fig. 6, in whichit is shown as folded over and upon the stiffening-blank 6-, so thatwhen the latter is rolled, to tubular form the part a will be inclosedtherein, since this forms the subject-matter of my copendingapplication, Serial No. 207,422, filed on the 11th day of May, A. D.1904.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown the stiffening member as in Figs. 1 and2, but here used in connection with a single fiat-shaped lacing insteadof a flattened tube, as in Figs. 1 and 2.

In folding over the edges of the stiffener upon the lacing said edges atone end may be folded to a slightly-greater extent, thereby permittingthe tapering of the tip, as shown in Fig. 11, when rolled into tubularshape.

My invention is not limited to the particular embodiment thereof hereshown and described, the same illustrating only a few forms of myinvention.

Having described my invention and without limiting myself as to details,what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a lacing of a stiff ening member therefor havingits edges secured to the edges only of said lacing.

2. The combination with a lacing of a stiffening member therefor havingits edges independently secured to the edges only of said lacing.

3. The combination with a lacing of a stiffening member therefor havingits edges provided with holding projections upon which the edges of thelacing are impaled.

4. The combination with a lacing of an end stiffening member thereforhaving its edges secured to the edges only of said lacing and the wholeformed into general tubular shape.

5. The combination with a lacing having its end shaped into tubular formof an inclosed tubular stiffening member independently secured at itsedges to the said lacing.

6. A lacing having its end rolled into tubular form and inclosing atubular stiffening member, the edges of the latter being independentlysecured to saidlacing.

7. A lacing having its end folded back upon itself and a stiffeningmember laid upon and adapted to retain said folded-over end and securedalong its edges to the edges of said lacing.

8. A lacing having its end folded back upon itself and a stifleningmember laid upon and adapted to retain said folded-over end and securedalong its edges to the edges of said lacing, the whole being thereafterrolled or shaped into general tubular formation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY H. CUMMINGS.

WVitnesses:

EVERETT S. EMERY, ALICE RICHMOND BROWN.

